


Reverse

by strata



Series: Semper Fidelis [1]
Category: ENHYPEN (Band), I-LAND (Korea TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Angels & Demons, Angst, Humor, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, M/M, Religious Content, Sunoo Is A Little Shit, Tsundere!Niki, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-27
Updated: 2020-10-27
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:55:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,094
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27223858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/strata/pseuds/strata
Summary: Sunoo is the bane of Niki’s demon existence.
Relationships: Kim Sunoo/Nishimura Riki | Ni-ki
Series: Semper Fidelis [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1989055
Comments: 28
Kudos: 96





	Reverse

**Author's Note:**

> ** sunki is too cute! i hope you enjoy this and let me know what you think ;) **

Niki had always taken his duties as a Demon to heart. He followed the Satanic laws to a T and with every ounce of his being, successfully leading Men astray for close to a millenia now. In fact, he’d been named _Devil of the Decade_ many times, but he was yet to earn a place among the greats, in Hell’s infamous _Cave of Fame._

That was the goal. 

For a creature of darkness, Niki took great pride in leading Men away from the Light. To him, doing what he did wasn’t just a job but a calling, and he’d shared this sentiment with fellow Demons on numerous occasions. The first time had been during a TEDTalk in Gehenna and, ever since his inspirational speech in that convention, invitations to other talks had been numerous. It didn’t take long for Niki to become something of a model to the Demon youth, his name so renowned in Hell that even Lucifer himself had come to know who he was—even sent him a basket of apples with a card and everything. 

Still, his name was yet to be a _Cave of Famer._ If only he could earn that title, his Demon life would become more fulfilling. Unfortunately, Niki encountered roadblocks that prevented him from snagging the title on the daily. Some were easier to solve and eliminate than the others, while the rest, not so much. The worst one of them all that he had been trying to shake off over the last decade was an Angel named Sunoo, and there was only one thing everyone needed to know about this accursed being of Holy Light who had been pestering him for many years: he was trouble. 

All Angels were to any Demon who encountered them of course, but Sunoo was a whole new other level. Not only was he fond of staging fake battles to “leave a lasting impact on non-believers” as Sunoo himself had phrased it, he also constantly showed his true and dazzling form to undeserving Men. That and he meddled in Niki’s business, but his reasons didn’t seem to have anything to do with serving his God. Come to think of it, Niki was pretty sure Sunoo didn't know what his own reasons were either. In the speech of Men, he was the _weird one,_ even by his own kind’s standards.

To Niki though, he was just a real pain in the ass. 

  
  


“Is anybody there?”

Niki’s gig for the evening was a Ouija board summoning. It had been ongoing for five days now, but he wanted to build the anticipation, responding to the bright-eyed teenagers only once in a while. He’d made his presence known vaguely and kept the group interested: blowing candles out, whispering right beside someone’s ear, caressing another’s arm, subjecting the closed room with a breeze out of nowhere—you know, the works. But it was time for Niki to show himself and maybe possess one of them because it was the sixth day and, well, that was kind of a significant number to Men aside from the number 13. Niki didn’t have the patience to wait too long though, so six it was. He already had a target in mind: the most timid of them all, some guy named Lyle who always brought a rosary to these sessions and murmured prayers under his breath, all while his friends called out to the Void. 

He was the Believer among them, and tonight Niki was going to turn him. 

“All right,” Niki murmured to himself encouragingly, stretching a little and checking his reflection in a handheld mirror that he conjured out of thin air. His blonde hair was combed back and he’d made sure to polish his horns, and some eyeliner made his eyes fiercer than they really were. He looked good. _Great._ “Let’s see what you’re made of kiddos.”

That being said and with a dramatic wave of his hand, Niki responded just as the teenagers repeated the question they’d been chanting all week, right before all the lights in the room went out. 

“Is anybody there?”

_“Yes.”_

There was a split-second of silence before everyone started screaming, and there was a mad scramble in the attic where the Ouija board session was taking place. Someone tripped over something that shattered, and Niki inhaled blood, _sweet fresh blood._ Licking his lips with a serpentine tongue, Niki tasted it along with the fear in the air and moaned in ecstasy, pupils dilating at how delicious it all was. 

_“Be quiet!”_

Niki’s voice came out as a hiss and then a purr, the manner he spoke and his words both causing everyone to freeze. _Now for the next part..._ he’d situated himself behind one of the candles that hadn’t been knocked over by all the blind running, and with a wave of his hand over it, the flame flickered to life, revealing only part of his face and illuminating the shine on his horns. 

_“Who dares disturb my sleep?”_

This was always the fun part for Niki: pretending they’d disturbed him from some kind of eternal slumber. Answers to this question were always varied, sometimes serious but often funny: _take my soul, I want revenge, woah you’re real, I want to be like you,_ etc. He wondered what it was going to be this time. Darting his serpentine tongue out, his breath came out in a threatening hiss when no one immediately replied. 

_“Speak!”_

One of the teenagers promptly passed out at his shout, but Niki didn’t think anyone else noticed aside from him. Not when everyone was shaking where they stood, even the bravest one of them all: a girl named Delilah, the person who’d instigated this whole Ouija board summoning in the first place. Still, she was a lot less scared than the rest because she actually stepped forward and replied, her voice shaking so badly that Niki had to listen closely to understand what she was saying. 

“We’re your worshippers!” 

_Yeah,_ that was a lie. They were just having a bit of fun. Nice try though, Delilah was a smart girl. Rosary-bearing Lyle though? Not so much, the declaration from his friend probably offending his faith. Finding his voice, the very person Niki wanted to possess raised his hand just then, brandishing the beads in his hands as if it was going to do anything to save him. _Whatever._

“That’s not true! Be gone Demon!”

That was the cue Niki was waiting for: an attempt to send him away, to make him leave, so that he could pretend to be angry. Because hey, they did disturb him from that fake sleep right? Snarling like a wild animal, every candle in the room, even the ones on the floor, came to life like a preview of Hell just as Lyle began praying. 

_“I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth…”_

Niki knew that prayer by heart, and he was just getting ready to mock Lyle, to _pray_ with him in order to emphasize that the words didn’t have any effect on him at all, when something blindingly bright suddenly erupted from a corner of the room. And then a familiar laugh paired with an even more familiar voice put a stop to everything. 

_Oh shit._

“And God believes in you, too!”

Niki resisted the urge to groan. _That line,_ really? Standing at the opposite end of the room in all his Angelic glory was none other than Sunoo in his warrior garb, a flaming sword in his hand. _Not the fucking sword…_

Another teenager had passed out by then, and the rest were huddled on one corner of the attic. They were all crying, but whether in relief or as a prelude to their spiral to insanity, Niki wasn’t sure. But he wasn’t focused on them but the Angel in their midst instead. Grinning playfully at him, Sunoo dramatically swung the sword in his hand before pointing it his way, eyes shimmering like molten gold. It was annoyingly pretty, and Niki wanted nothing more but to gouge those eyes out. 

“I will end you, Demon.”

And so, the fake battle between Good and Evil began, Niki’s own sword appearing out of thin air just in time to block what would’ve been a death blow. Well, a _fake_ death blow. Faces close to each other, Sunoo winked at him and Niki just about lost it. _How dare this fucking creature!_

“Excuse me, but this was my summoning and not yours!”

Shoving Sunoo back with so much force that the Angel was sent flying backwards, only his magnificent wings saved him by flaring out to help him regain balance—not that Niki was going to wait for that to happen as he attacked this time, cursing at Sunoo viciously as their swords clashed together in a spark of steel and fire. 

“I’m trying to meet my fucking quota on possessions for the week because I’ll be on vacation, stop delaying my plans!”

Fights with Sunoo was a familiar dance at this point, something that Niki had become used to with how often the Angel interrupted him in these kinds of settings. Which was why they could carry on with the conversation, too quiet for the teenagers still watching their epic fight to hear. 

“Oh, _oh,_ where are you going?”

“None of your business!”

“Your summoning was boring.”

“That’s the way it’s supposed to be!”

“Out with the old, in with the new!”

Niki was getting more annoyed with every sentence that spilled out of Sunoo’s mouth, playing dirty by attacking the Angel on the chest with his horns just to be able to vent out some of his aggression. They weren’t really sharp, more for aesthetic than anything else, but with enough force, his horns rendered Sunoo breathless. 

_“Oof!_ Oh hey, you shined your horns!”

“Stop interrupting my summonings!”

“They look nice, almost like marble!”

“God almighty, shut up!”

 _“Oh no,_ you used the name of the Lord in vain…”

The attic was unrecognizable by now, and the drapes on one of the windows had caught fire. _Shit,_ the teenagers were going to die because of all the smoke… not good because it wasn’t their time yet. Niki gave the Angel a meaningful but urgent look, and it earned him a wide and excited smile when Sunoo realized that their little sword fight was coming to a close. 

“I’ll leave my left side wide open, stab me anywhere!”

“No! Just retreat or something, pretend I defeated you!”

“Nu-uh, you have to stab me! Just not at the wing!”

“You’re insane! They’re going to suffocate!”

“Then stab me already, right here and _now!”_

With a scream, Niki lunged forward and stabbed Sunoo straight through the stomach—all the bloody way—and the Angel gasped sharply, going still as his flaming sword fell on the attic floor. This was the part Niki hated the most, although it was the Angel’s favorite. 

“Destroy the board!”

Sunoo was talking to the teenagers who Niki felt would need therapy for the rest of their lives, and maybe even the next ones after their destined deaths; with blood dripping from his lips to his chin then neck, the Angel gestured at his sword, not that anything else wouldn’t have worked to “destroy the board.” But it was all part of the show.

“Don’t let the Demon wreak havoc on your cities!”

 _Been there, done that,_ Niki absently thought to himself. But of course Men didn’t know that. Pulling his own sword back, Niki watched Sunoo drop to the ground, on his knees, wounded and already disintegrating. It was like watching the sunrise, if sunrises were overly dramatic Angels who found joy in pretending to die tragic, bloody deaths. 

_“Destroy it!”_

Rosary-bearing Lyle destroyed the board using Sunoo’s sword just as was commanded, and of course Niki had to do his own acting now: with a scream, he didn’t make a performance of disappearing, deciding to just burst into flames. But not before—

“You and me,” he snarled at Sunoo’s bleeding form before he completely dissolved, at least from view. The Angel was still grinning at him, laying on the floor in a pool of red. “Basement.”

_God,_ Niki hated Angels so much. 

“Can you pull at my wing right there? Think I sprained a joint. _Ooooh…_ yes, _aaah,_ that feels good... thanks.”

Niki had to be tired to be doing what Sunoo was telling him to without complaints. That and he was sticky with blood, stained with soot, and was still short one possession for the week thanks to this fucking Angel who didn’t know how to mind his own business.

“You seriously have to stop crashing my summonings, Sunoo.”

Stretching and flapping his wings, Sunoo turned around to smile at Niki, looking only slightly apologetic as he hovered a bit from the ground. He flew backwards until he hit a rectangular human contraption made of steel, sitting atop it and fumbling around in his pockets. He was already completely healed. 

“But it’s fun. You had fun too, right?”

Closing his eyes and trying to not let his temper explode (that would be catastrophic to the house they were in), Niki counted to ten backwards slowly before opening his eyes and directing his gaze at the Angel. 

“The Laws indicate that—”

“Hey, you want some?”

Niki was interrupted in the middle of what he was saying, finding himself being handed a bible. Its surface caught the light and it gave a metallic gleam… _oh._ Sometimes, he often forgot Sunoo had some kind of drinking problem that he hid from everyone by way of disguising the flask he carried around as a bible. 

“I do _not_ want the Blood of Christ.”

“Your loss, not mine. Cheers!”

Sunoo then uncapped the flask and took a big swig, throwing his head back with a contented sound. Niki watched the other’s throat bob up and down as he gulped at his drink, and he licked his lips as the sight made a spike of thirst run through him. _Damn it._

“You sure you don’t want any?” Sunoo asked him, wiping at the wine that dribbled from one corner of his mouth away using the back of his hand. “Come on, just a sip. We’re both tired from the battle, you gotta rehydrate.”

Rolling his eyes, Niki snatched the flask away from Sunoo and took a mouthful. Sweet, heady wine with a touch of holy heat… he sighed as he swallowed, looking back at Sunoo who was still smiling at him. He handed the flask back. 

“God, I hate you. And I only ever say your god’s name all the time when I’m with you.”

Sunoo laughed loudly at that, stretching his arms over his head, his wings following suit. They were stained with dried blood that was starting to crust over—he was going to have to preen himself before flight tonight to make flying easier and more seamless. 

“Then what a good Angel I am! But on a serious note Niki: your summonings need a lot more variety if you want to make it to the _Cave of Fame_. That candle going out thing is so millenia ago. Aside from your really fine horns, tonight was a major flop.”

Conjuring a chair from nowhere, Niki sat down with a frustrated sigh, running a hand through his horns and hair. “Look, I’m following the manual as it is. Stop changing the procedure. I reveal myself when summoned, possess someone, maybe demand a sacrifice or two, and that’s it. No one said there had to be a fight involved. You don’t get into the _Cave_ by not following the rules.”

“But the fight makes it more interesting!” Sunoo was on his feet, hovering a few feet from the ground, wings keeping him aloft as he approached Niki. “You were amazing tonight! That’s what Men should see! The cooler you are, the more they’ll want to be like you!”

Not even following Sunoo’s progress of hovering around him, Niki sighed yet again and massaged his forehead with his fingers. Was this a sign to finally retire? Purgatory sounded like a great place to live out the rest of his Demon days.

“I think you’re on the wrong side of the battlefield here Sunoo-yah,” Niki began, looking to his left and watching the Angel pause abruptly, his golden stare softening for some reason. Niki wasn’t sure what that was all about, so he just continued. “It’s supposed to be a showdown between Good and Evil. You’re letting me win instead of doing your part and leading Men to the Light so I can try and lead them astray. This is against the rules.”

“Fuck the rules,” Sunoo muttered stubbornly, crossing his arms over his chest as he landed on his feet, wings quivering as if showing his distress. He wasn’t looking at Niki anymore. “I also like it when you call me Sunoo-yah.”

Niki stared at the Angel in front of him blankly. _So he liked that, huh?_ It was worth a try… 

“If I called you Sunoo-yah from now on, would you stop crashing my summonings?”

The grin was back on Sunoo’s lips as he looked back up at the question, and he shook his head. 

“What? No! You can call me anything you want, I won’t stop brightening your boring summonings for you!”

Niki threw his hands in the air in exasperation. This was getting ridiculous. 

_“But why?”_

Sunoo looked him in the eye, and at that instant he lost some of the mirth that he’d started the evening with. Flapping his wings and sending a cloud of dust in the air, he reached behind himself and pulled at one of his feathers, tossing it at Niki before he was flying away. 

“Because.”

Because… _what?_

“Hey wait, you haven’t preened!” 

But Sunoo was gone, leaving behind a lonely bloody feather. Picking it up, Niki wondered if it symbolized something. 

  
  
  


When Niki saw Sunoo again, it was about seven years later. He was on his way to support a Demon in the area who was about to be Exorcised that evening when the Angel literally swooped down and landed on him, sending them on the grassy ground in a heap of tangled limbs.

“Fuck it Sunoo! _Watch it!”_

“Heyo my fave demon!”

He had been shoving and pushing at the Angel until hearing his voice made Niki pause, and peering at the Sunoo’s face, he sighed at what he saw. _Seriously?_

“Drinking _and_ flying? Really?”

Sunoo was laughing, squirming on top of him until they were face to face: breath as sweet as wine and golden eyes brighter than usual. Bumping their foreheads together, he replied as best as he was able, words nearly an incomprehensible slur. 

“M’celebratin’t’night.”

They were still sprawled on the ground with Niki underneath, resigned to his fate: if Sunoo was involved, any of his plans always fell apart. So it meant he was never going to make it to the Exorcism… hopefully, they could function with just five Demons instead of the required six. 

“Yay, good for you,” Niki mumbled in a flat tone, letting Sunoo drape himself on top of him. “What’re you celebrating?”

“Lose wings,” Sunoo whispered, sounding sleepy, and Niki went _very_ still. “They’re gon’ take m’wings.”

“What happened? Sunoo?” 

Niki tried to lift the Angel’s face, but he was already snoring _and_ drooling, drunk beyond belief and apparently, about to lose his wings. _His most prized possession._ What the hell was going on? With some maneuvering and lots of cursing, Niki eventually managed to free himself enough to be able to sit up, pushing Sunoo to lie on his back and staring down at the Angel in his repose. Slapping his cheek yielded no results—Sunoo r remained fast asleep, mumbling in his drunken stupor. 

“Worth it… _worth it…”_

Well, Niki couldn’t just leave a drunken Angel out here, could he? Wondering what his mutterings were about, he eased Sunoo over a shoulder and began to walk back where he came from.   
  
  


Sunoo’s feathers began to fall one, by one, by one.

It started out with just a handful until he was trailing feathers as he walked around the abandoned house they were in and where Niki had taken them the night before. It was morning now, and the Angel was wide awake. He’d only asked one question when he woke up.

“What did I tell you last night?”

Niki was confused, but he told Sunoo what he remembered, nearly forgetting about the words he kept mumbling all night. _Worth it, worth it._ Over and over like a mantra, like a prayer. Sunoo’s golden eyes were dulling, from golden to insipid brown, as he stared at Niki helplessly upon hearing the words he’d been saying spoken back to him. 

“Do you think you’re going to miss me when I’m gone?”

Niki rolled his eyes, getting comfortable in the borrowed chaise lounge he was occupying, oblivious of the agony behind the gently-asked question. 

“Not really. I’ll be glad to be finally rid of you.”

Sunoo had laughed something fragile as he continued to shed feathers, pacing the space beside Niki in silence as the day brightened and then waned. By sunset’s tailend, woken up from his nap…

“Niki?”

Blinking his eyes open, Niki met Sunoo’s gaze, Sunoo who was leaning over him with a fading smile. He narrowed his eyes, still not completely awake yet, and watched as the Angel glanced behind him and at the only remaining feather he had left. And then—

“You didn’t keep the last feather I gave you, did you?” 

Niki rubbed at an eye, yawning widely and pushing Sunoo at arm’s length without really bothering to answer, only to be shoved back down with force. 

“Answer me Niki-yah.”

_What the fuck?_

“No,” Niki lied through gritted teeth, a little annoyed at being woken up and at the way Sunoo was being a little shit, as usual. What did it matter if he kept the feather or not? He did of course, Sunoo’s feathers were very pretty, but he wasn’t about to admit that. “Get off me and get out of my life.”

Sunoo only had one feather left, which he reached out for but not before leaning forward and down. His eyes were so dull, so brown. _So sad._ Lips touching Niki’s, Sunoo whispered to him gently, the words like a lover’s touch. 

“Don’t forget about me, ok? Because I’m going to forget about you.”

Confused and startled, Niki didn’t have time to respond as he felt Sunoo give a yank, and then his vision was nothing but a blinding white light. Shielding his eyes from the display, Niki felt the final feather fall against his chest and, when he opened his eyes again, Sunoo was still there. 

Only, he was no longer an Angel.   
  
  


“Is anybody there?”

Sunoo was kneeling on the floor, naked and confused, looking past—no, _through_ Niki with narrowed eyes. He lifted a hand and cradled his own head with a moan, like he was in pain. 

_Don’t forget about me, ok?_

“Hello?”

A sinking realization was dawning on Niki as he answered _yes_ loudly, receiving no response or acknowledgement for it. Instead, Sunoo struggled to stand, gaze catching the feathers littering the floor. They were starting to burn, and the smell in the air was terrible because of them. 

“What in the world...”

Sunoo was talking to himself, talking and ignoring Niki who was calling his name and following right behind as Sunoo stumbled and tripped over his own feet like he was just learning how to walk. 

_Because I’m going to forget about you._

Sunoo found a bedroom, was rummaging around some drawers and pulling clothes out, muttering to himself while still ignoring Niki who merely stood by his side now, at a loss for words. A new basket of apples had appeared out of thin air on one of the tables as they were making their way where they currently were, Niki having taken the card with a tremor in his hands. He disregarded the fruits altogether. 

The card read: 

_Congratulations on making it to the Cave of Fame, Niki! Helping in the Fall of an Angel—I’m very impressed! I’d like to invite you for dinner soon so we can discuss your future and in order for me to personally congratulate you for all your hard work._

_Signed,_  
_Lucifer_

“Sunoo?” 

But the now Fallen Angel couldn’t hear Niki. Not anymore. 

_Don’t forget about me._  
_Ok?_

**Author's Note:**

>  **to be continued...  
> **   
>  **sequel: _A Deal with God_**

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Hesperides](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29194617) by [ilandalandan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ilandalandan/pseuds/ilandalandan)




End file.
